


The Witch In The Woods

by YouGottaFlipItTurnWays



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst with a Happy Ending, Fae & Fairies, M/M, Rating will change, Slow Burn, Supernatural Elements, Witch Keith (Voltron), Witchcraft
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-27
Updated: 2018-04-27
Packaged: 2019-04-28 18:30:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 915
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14455221
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/YouGottaFlipItTurnWays/pseuds/YouGottaFlipItTurnWays
Summary: There's a witch that lives in the middle of the woods, and is very rarely seen in town. No one knows what he looks like, no one believes those who say they’ve seen him around.One day, Shiro thinks to himself, I will visit the witch in the woods.





	The Witch In The Woods

There's a witch that lives in the middle of the woods, and is very rarely seen in town. No one knows what he looks like, no one believes those who say they’ve seen him around.

Stories are told from child to child about the scary witch who lives in the forest who is just as likely to harm you as to help. Stories of missing people and adventurous tragic heroes. Stories of poisons, of mysterious jars with vile contents that should never ever be opened, and of cursed jewelry that will kill the wearer within a fortnight.

Whispers are exchanged between adults at night once the children are finished telling their grand tales. Whispers of runaway wives with their children and the husbands gone to find them, never to be seen again. Whispers of fertility potions, of banishing powders, and of protection charms. Whispers that promise assistance if your heart and cause are pure.

Only those who truly believe will ever find the witch's cottage.

Shiro’s a local, he shared those stories as a child, heard those whispers as he grew. Then he went off to flight school where tales of witches in the woods are rarely told. Strangely, he missed them.

He’s home again, minus an arm with a mind overflowing with nightmares. His family does their best to help him adjust. But it’s a long slow process, learning to live without a limb. The whispers of a helpful witch in the woods bring him solace. _One day,_ he thinks to himself, _I will visit the witch in the woods._

He knows the witch is likely not able to regrow his arm, that thing is never coming back. A salve for the pain, a potion to stop his nightmares perhaps, those the witch could probably provide.

He pays a visit to all who claim to have met with the witch. They’re mostly elderly, not many young people _actually_ believe in magic these days. Their stories are strangely similar.

They search for the hidden path for hours and hours. Once it’s found they follow the path for what seems like days. they arrive at a medium sized cottage situated in the middle of a clearing. The path leads right to the front door, cutting through a large garden in full bloom, no matter the time of year. The door would open before they even raised their hand to knock. Then, they are facing the path back into the woods. Most times with what they came for, but other times not. Those who have what they came for leave without turning back, they know better than that. When the empty handed visitors turn to knock again, the cottage is gone and they find themselves a few feet from the tree line. When all visitors return from the witch’s cottage, it is as if no time has passed. Any time Shiro asks what the witch said or did or looked like, or even what was inside the cottage, or growing in their garden, none of them can remember.

No matter, he doesn't really need to know any of those personal things and neither did the others, they were there for something and the witch either gave it or didn't.  He can give points to the witch for his businesslike approach to their visits.

Shiro's family is pretty great, but they've been a little overbearing since the accident. They just want to make sure Shiro’s okay but in doing that he feels like they’re suffocating him a little. His mom would call it a disagreement, his twin brother Ryou would call it a screaming match, the result was the same. Shiro left the house to cool off. He couldn't stand being there for another second. He’s been cooped up there for months, his family’s eyes becoming like a hawks after all his talk of witches.

His town is small, a few blocks that eventually turn into farms that eventually turn to dirt back roads with miles between one house and the next all surrounded by seemingly endless forest. With less than a thousand people you're bound to know someone who knows someone who did what with who and where. So while Shiro was outside and away from his childhood home, the nosier residents were no doubt playing phone tag with everyone they knew, including his mother.

“That Shirogane boy is down by the old park. No one’s seen him out and about in months. He looks a tad worse for wear if I’m to be honest.”

“Dusk is an odd time to make your grand re-entrance to society, I hope he brought a light.”

“He sure filled out during his time with the air force don’t you think? Despite the, uh, obvious tragedy.”

As he sits on the bench in the overgrown “Old Park” that backs up to the woods, as opposed to the “New Park” installed in the center of town about 15 years ago, Shiro is unaware of the specifics of their conversations but has no doubt he’ll hear what everyone has to say from his mother later. He’s sulking out here, he knows that, but sulking outside in the fresh air is better than sulking in a stuffy old room. He’s staring into space as the sun dips below the horizon behind him. As the last rays of sunlight fade, his eyes refocus on the trees. And in the growing starlight he sees a dirt path into the woods that starts right at his feet.

**Author's Note:**

> yell at me abt this au @ power-bottom-keith.tumblr.com so i dont procrastinate this au into oblivion, thanks for reading!!


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